Darren Collison hopes to stay with Clippers

Clippers Darren Collison appears to get a lift to the basket by Blake Griffin in the first quarter. The Clippers played host to the Oklahoma City Thunder at Staples Center in Los Angeles, CA. 11/13/2013. photo by (John McCoy/Los Angeles Daily News)

Los Angeles Clippers point guard Darren Collison rebounds against the Brooklyn Nets in the first quarter during an NBA basketball game in Los Angeles on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013. ¬ ¬ (Keith Birmingham Pasadena Star-News)

After finally playing close to home for the first time in his professional career, Darren Collison is hoping to extend his stay.

True, the point guard is opting out of his two-year contract with the Clippers — testing free agency for the second summer in a row after averaging 11.4 points and 3.7 assists off the bench in his fifth NBA season. But after playing in New Orleans, Indiana and Dallas, the Inland Empire native likes being in a major market close to friends and family, and he likes being near talent that ranks among the most exciting in the NBA.

Collison pointed out that the two teams in the NBA Finals, San Antonio and Miami, have both retained the same core over multiple seasons. He sees the same sort of promise in stars Chris Paul and Blake Griffin, who have made nine combined All-NBA teams.

“Last year (in free agency), it was just putting myself in a position where I could find myself again as a player mentally,” Collison said. “I’ve been through a lot. The previous season with Dallas, I still had a good season, but mentally I just felt like I needed to be a part of a team that was going to try to win it all. That was my intention, to try and be a part of a team that was going to win a championship.”

This year, he tasted just his third playoff trip, reaching the second round with thrilling series against the Golden State Warriors and Oklahoma City Thunder. His 12 fourth-quarter points in a Game 4 comeback against the Thunder made for his most memorable moment of the season — and perhaps helped ensure that he’d earn more than the $1.9 million he would’ve been due.

“My value went up,” he said. “I understand that. But I don’t want it to affect my decision with the Clippers. I want to be with the Clippers. Hopefully, the upper management can do something, figure something out, but I just think this is a good chance to be with a team for three or four years, try to do something special. I think the organization deserves it. The fans deserve it.”

Collison also sees the drama set off by Donald Sterling’s racist comments as a hopefully fading storm, even if the 80-year-old Clippers owner is still fighting the team’s $2 billion sale and has reportedly hired private investigators to dig up dirt on NBA officials and owners. From the perspective of someone who was in the locker room, that’s becoming background noise.

“It’s good that it’s dying down,” Collison said. “We have a new owner in place. I’m excited. I’m excited for the Clippers and their future.”

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He hasn’t yet met Steve Ballmer, whose purchase of the franchise is pending NBA approval, but thinks that the former Microsoft CEO seems “enthusiastic about the challenge” of building up the Clippers in a city long dominated by the Lakers. Even Collison admits that when he was growing up, he only attended Clippers games to watch the other team.

He’s also hoping to spin his experience of the Sterling controversy into a teachable moment. Collison will host his fourth annual basketball camp from June 23-25 at his alma mater Etiwanda High. Geared toward sixth, seventh and eighth graders, the camp’s attendance has grown from by about 100 participants each year, to what Collison hopes will be roughly 400 this summer.

Asked what he planned to do differently in the camp this time, he jumped back to Sterling.

“The distraction was a distraction, but it’s something to talk about as far as telling someone about your experience and how to become a better person or how to become a man,” he said. “Those are things kids can learn from.”